“You’ve got to talk to me sometime,” Kyle says. He’s yanking the laces on his shoes so hard it’s a wonder they don’t snap. “I was trying to protect you. That’s all.”

I cross my arms. It’s not like I’ve been deliberately not talking to him, but after my date with Jayce last night, I came straight home and went to bed. “Protect me?” I ask. “You lied to him and me.”

“I know.”. He at least has the sense to look guilty, which wins him a few points. But just a few. “Look, it’s just not the life I want for you. Hooking up with some BDSM club owner? What brother would want that for his sister.”

“Did you you ever stop to think maybe what I want for myself is more important than what you want?”

He grimaces. “Of course it is. But look at your last few boyfriends. An alcoholic, a drug-addict, a guy who was secretly married, and a lowlife who bea--”

“I get it,” I snap. “But this time feels different. I don’t expect that to sound convincing or for you to believe me, but I can tell you this much. Every time you try to push us apart, some irrational, stubborn part of me is only going to want to get closer to him. So like it or not, you’re going to just have to let this play out and see where it goes.”

“What if where it goes is you getting hurt again?” he asks. “I can’t just sit by while that happens.”

“I can take care of myself, Kyle,” I say more softly. He doesn’t deserve my anger, not after everything he’s done for me, so I push down all the negativity I might be feeling and make myself think back to all the times I’ve needed him and he’s been there. “You’ve bailed me out of so many shitty situations, and I’m so thankful I have a big brother looking out for me. But you can’t protect me forever. You’ve got to let me start figuring things out for myself, or I never will.”

He lowers his head, resting his elbows on his knees as he sits on the couch, one shoe still untied. It’s a long time before he looks back up and speaks. “I’ll stay out of it as much as I can, but I swear to God. If he hurts you, I’ll fucking kill him.”

“Kyle…” I say.

“Fine, I’ll just break his legs or something. Is that better?”

I laugh. “I guess that’s fair.”

Kyle grins. “Damn right it is.” He laces up his shoe and gets up to give me a quick hug. “You’ll tell me if you need my help, right?”

“Yes,” I say. “Now get out of here. I’ve got plans today and I need to get ready.

He looks like he wants to say something--to ask what they are, but he impresses me when he ends up just nodding and leaving with a quick wave over his shoulder.

It’s just a few minutes before Jayce is supposed to pick me up for our date tonight when my phone buzzes. I grab it off the counter and see I have a text from a number I don’t recognize. I click to read it.

This isn’t over. -Cade.

I set the phone down quickly on the counter. I blocked his number after we broke things off, so he either had to get a new phone or text me from someone else’s to get that message through. For some reason, the extra effort makes it that much more ominous than if he had just drunk texted me. It makes me think he’s completely sober, and still fuming over what happened when he tried to attack me in my apartment.

I make a quick call to block the new number, delete the text, and do my best to put it from my mind. As chilling as the threat was, I try to tell myself it’s just his bruised ego talking. He probably wants to feel like he got the last word in and will now slink away like the snake he is.

I feel my stomach cramp in the oddest way, almost like I’m on my period even though it’s not due for another week. I know it can’t possibly be symptoms of a pregnancy yet, but my mind immediately goes to that night with Jayce. I got tested afterwards, but I’m still waiting on the results. As if that wasn’t bad enough, I don’t even know if my reckless night is going to lead to a baby.

I try to imagine Jayce’s reaction if I am pregnant. There would be no doubt as to who the father is because Cade and I hadn’t had sex in weeks before the break-up. He was content with beating me and forcing himself in my mouth to “shut” me up anytime I cried out. My bruises have faded to the point that I can cover them with makeup now, but I still feel the slight soreness every time I move. It’s a shameful reminder of how bad I let things get, and it’s also a wake up call about how careful I need to be with Jayce. I can’t just let him charm me into complacency. I won’t sit by and let things get out of hand again. Not that I can really imagine Jayce being like the men who came before him.

I feel like I got a glimpse inside that head of his last night at Galaxy Golf. I never would’ve thought a man like him could’ve had a childhood even remotely like mine, but he did, and he’s more like me than I could have ever guessed. We’ve both suffered at the hands of others. We’ve both had our faces pressed to the ground and been told to give up, to quit. The difference is he overcame it. In so many ways, I still feel like there’s a knee in my back, that constant force of oppression telling me I’m not good enough and I don’t matter--saying I deserve all the things that have happened to me.

Knowing Jayce has been there and made it through what I have draws me to him more powerfully than any sexual attraction ever could--even if that part of my attraction to him is distractingly strong. I’d never admit as much to him, but submitting to Jayce was the most sublime, sensual experience of my life. Hardly an hour has gone by that I don’t think back to a few nights ago and the way he claimed me in that cold, blue room while people watched.

A knock at the door startles me from my thoughts. I do a quick check of my hair in the hallway mirror and make sure my clothes and makeup still look okay before opening the door.

Jayce waits for me in a dark suit that manages to make his already broad shoulders look even more masculine. His hair is combed back in a way that somehow looks messy but neat and clean. It only takes one look in his eyes to know that his surprise date isn’t going to be to a golf range.

“Evening,” he says with a smoldering grin.

God. It’s like I can forget how much of a presence he has in the time we’re apart. A few minutes or a few hours and I start convincing myself he’s not actually as consuming as I remember him being. I tell myself next time I’ll be more composed around him, or that I’ll have more self-control.

But whether he’s letting his guard down and telling me about his past or commanding me to obey his every sexual desire, Jayce has a hold on me. I can’t put my finger on why, but I feel it as surely as if there was a collar around my neck and a leash clutched firmly in his hand. Every moment I spend with him brings me closer to him--takes the slack out of the leash another few inches until I’m drawn so close I can feel the heat that practically burns from the surface of his skin.

Inch by inch, he’s making me his, and every hour that goes by chips away at my desire to stop him.

“Hi,” I say, my voice feeling thick and awkward.

He smoothly takes my arm and leads me into the hall, where he closes my door and waits for me to lock it. “I see they fixed it,” he says, nodding to the door he smashed down when he burst into stop Cade.

“Yeah,” I say. “Thank you, by the way. I would’ve gotten it handled if you hadn’t sent over that repair guy.”

“You break it, you buy it,” he says with a casual wave of his hand. “Besides, I liked having an excuse to do something nice for you. I think most women would’ve already dropped about two thousand hints for me to buy them something ridiculously expensive. You hardly seem to care.“

“We never had much,” I say as we wait for the elevator. “Growing up, I mean. My dad worked a factory job trying to make enough to support us on his own, but he probably spent half of it on booze, so… our Christmas tree and our pantry were always pretty barren.”

The elevator dings. Jayce guides me inside by the small of my back. Something in his touch is so reassuring. It’s protective--possessive, even--but it doesn’t make me feel claustrophobic like my brother’s over-protectiveness. It makes me feel safe and secure. Happy.

“I’d think that would make you even more interested in money,” he says.

“I guess it could’ve. But if I had learned to rely on money for happiness, I would’ve had a really hard time ever being happy. So maybe I just forced myself to stop thinking about it.”

“Have you been happy?” he asks. The tone of his voice is so gentle that his question touches me in a way I wouldn’t think just a few words could.

I feel my throat get tight and tears sting at my eyes, but I master my emotions with a brief struggle and force out the words. “Sometimes. Maybe.” It’s the truth. I could’ve said yes. I could’ve lied to him, but there was so much compassion in the way he asked, that I couldn’t bring myself to lie to him.

“That’s going to change,” he says firmly. “When you’re mine.”

His words send a trickle of heat through my body that pools in my stomach and makes my breath feel short. “You mean as a submissive?” I ask.

“I mean mine,” he says.

I wait for him to elaborate, but he apparently thinks he’s made his point and stands quietly until the elevator reaches the ground floor.

Jayce parks his car outside his club, looking over to me in a very serious--very sexy--way. “You had your turn taking me on the date you wanted. I played along nicely, didn’t I?”

“Yes…” I say slowly, not liking where this is going.

“Now it’s your turn to play nicely for me. Though I hope you’ll end up doing more than just playing,” he adds with a hint of a smirk. “I want you to be my submissive for the night. Not just in private. Not in some dark room where no one can see you. I want to show you off.”

I swallow. “In there?” I ask.

He nods. “And I want you to wear these while I do,” he says, his smirk widening as he lifts a pair of black panties from within the center console.

I frown at them, even though the idea of wearing the panties he wants me to wear already has heat building between my legs. “Why those?” I ask.

He waggles a finger at me. “No more questions, princess. If you’re going to learn how to truly please me as a submissive, it’s time you start learning how to properly behave. So you will put these panties on, and you’ll let me watch.”

“What?” I ask.

His expression darkens.

It only takes a look to make it perfectly clear to me that I’m not supposed to be asking questions or trying to get any kind of explanation. I’m just supposed to obey. There’s a freedom in the realization, a kind of reckless abandon in what he’s promising, and despite all my reservations, doubts, and fears from the past, I know I want to say yes.

I watch him with a defiant look as I shimmy out of my panties, careful to keep my dress from riding up and giving him too good of a view as I do. To my surprise, he holds out his hands like he expects me to hand him the panties. I do as he wants, which makes another rush of excited heat flood my body. God. He’s so confident. There’s not a hint of shame or embarrassment over wanting to take my used panties, and while the kinky request might creep me out coming from anyone else, the unapologetic confidence Jayce has makes it far from creepy. Somehow he makes it sexy, even.

I take the black panties and slide into them, noticing that Jayce doesn’t even try to hide the fact that he’s watching my every move.

“Perfect,” he says once I’ve got them on. “Now we can begin.”

He gets out of the car, opens my door, and helps me up. “There are a few rules you will need to follow, or you’ll find out why you’re wearing those panties.”

I frown in confusion, but he continues on, ignoring my unasked question.

“First, you will not make eye contact with another man so long as we are in the club. Second, you will not speak unless spoken to. Third, you will obey me without question, no matter what my request. Lastly, you give me the respect I deserve as your Dom and refer to me as Sir. Do you have any questions?”

Only a few thousand. “No. Sir,” I say, nearly forgetting to call him Sir already.

The club bustles with activity, as usual, but for the first time I feel like one of the sexy women I watch slink around with handsome men, watching from my side of the bar longingly at something I could never have. It feels good to be possessed by Jayce. He makes it painfully clear to anyone who looks our way that I’m his by holding his hand in the center of my back and subtly guiding me as he moves, making sure I stay perfectly in step with him.

I scan the crowd for Cade because his threatening text is still fresh in my mind. I don’t know if I ever really got to know the real Cade during the unfortunate time I spent dating him, but I do know that men like him don’t just walk away. Especially, not after what happened with Jayce in my apartment. Still, standing beside Jayce, I know I’m safe. At least from other men. I guess the jury is still out on whether I’m safe from him.

I have to do a very un-ladylike step as I try to discreetly spread my legs a little to adjust the panties Jayce has me wearing. They feel slightly odd near the front, like the material is thicker or they are heavier than usual, but my subtle move seems to relieve the discomfort.

It seems like Jayce knows every single person in the club. I lose track of how many people he introduces me to, and each time he specifically explains that I’m his submissive. I can’t say why, but no matter how many couples he tells I’m his submissive, I feel proud every time. Maybe it’s just the simple fact that Jayce is jaw-droppingly gorgeous, and I’d have to be out of my mind not to be proud to have him walking around practically bragging about having me.

As far as I can tell, I obey all of Jayce’s rules, until a man and two women stop us just as Jayce seems to be leading us to one of the back areas of the club.

“Jayce Carlyle in the flesh!” says the man in a booming voice.

I carefully avoid looking up to see his face. Even though Jayce doesn’t seem to be looking my way as he greets the trio, I feel like he’ll know if I break his rule somehow. All I can see is that the man is barrel-chested and almost bursts out of the expensive suit he wears. The women at his side are full of thick, beautiful curves, but just to be on the cautious side, I don’t look up and meet their eyes, either.

“Barry,” says Jayce in a neutral tone that tells me he isn’t a particularly big fan of this man. “It’s good to see you and your new…”

“These two are just run-of-the-mill submissives,” explains Barry, who gives both women a generous squeeze on their asses as if punctuating his point. “No slaves for me this season. Too complicated. Too many rules and too much commitment. Am I right?”

“I wouldn’t know,” Jayce says dryly.

Barry’s feet shift, and though I’m staring down at his shoes, I can tell he’s facing me now. “And who is this lovely minx at your side?”

“This is Miley, my submissive.”

“Ahhh, is she now? Does she speak?” he asks with a falsely playful tone.

“Not to you,” Jayce says. His tone has gone from neutral to cold.

Barry snaps his fingers, which draws my eyes instinctively up--where I accidentally look straight into his eyes. He has thick eyebrows and mediterranean features, but there’s something cocky and dirty in his expression I don’t like at all.

I look immediately back to the ground, but I see Jayce reach a hand into his pocket and I nearly gasp out loud when my pussy starts to vibrate. My eyes go wide and I move my hands half-way toward my crotch to suppress the vibrations before I realize how crazy I would look. I’m forced to keep my hands at my side and close my eyes, slowly piecing together what’s going on.

The panties…

He made me wear some kind of panties with a remote-controlled vibrator, and he must have the remote in his pocket. So my punishment is to have to endure the maddeningly good sensation in public--just a few inches away from people.. I put a hand to my mouth as carefully as I can, acting like I’m coughing to disguise the hitching of breath that drew their eyes.

I see Jayce grinning when no one else is looking, and I tell myself I need to find a way to pay him back for this particular cruel creativity if I ever get the chance.

“Are you alright, dear?” asks Barry, who steps forward and starts to reach for me.

Jayce steps between us, knocking Barry’s hand away so quickly I barely see it happen. “You’ll keep your eyes and your hands off my submissive if you want to remain welcome in my club. Am I making myself clear?”

Barry stutters out an apology, laughing awkwardly as he does. “Of course, of course, Mr. Carlyle. I was only trying to help, I do hope you’ll find it in your heart to…” he says, trailing off when Jayce leads me away from the man before he’s even finished apologizing.

It’s only once we start walking that Jayce finally turns off the vibrations. He leads me into one of the back rooms, pausing to look at me before we move in. “Each time you break one of my rules, I’ll leave it on longer. And don’t think I won’t make you cum in public, princess, because I’m just waiting for you to give me an excuse.”

I frown. “He wasn’t supposed to even look at me, but you’re okay with me cumming in front of strangers?”

Jayce pulls a small black object out of his pants and presses the button, setting the vibrations off. I clutch the hem of my dress from the intensity of the vibrations, which seem even more powerful than the first time.

The sensation takes the breath from my lungs, and Jayce moves me until my back is against the door frame and his body is inches from mine. “I’m answering you only because I choose to, princess. But you will pay the consequences for questioning me each and every time you dare to.”

I nod my head and close my eyes. My body is already shaking from the tremors of pleasure running through me like tendrils of flame. It’s not just the vibrations. It’s the exposure, the strangeness of being in plain sight of anyone who cared enough to look. All the elements blend together into a wonderful mix of euphoria tinged with the fear that I will start moaning and making a scene by having an orgasm in the middle of the crowded club for seemingly no reason.

“I can’t tolerate a man like him touching you or even thinking of you. But with a certain level of anonymity and detachment, I would enjoy taking you in public.”

I want to tell him how confusing that is and how little sense it makes, but if I’m being honest with myself I can understand to a certain degree. There is a strong vibe of creepiness coming from Barry. So I understand how him looking at me sexually or trying to touch me would seem more personal and intimdate, even if it was only one-sided. But being taken by Jayce in front of others, like that first night in the room with the glass window… that felt different. It was just something thrilling and exciting in the background.He clicks the button, stopping the vibrations, but not immediately stepping away from me. “The intensity will keep going up,” he says. “So if you think you’ll be able to keep avoiding a scene when you misbehave, you may want to reconsider.”

He takes me by the small of my back again, finally leading me through the doorway into one of the areas set off from the main lobby. I still haven’t been inside any of these areas except the room with the stage I saw that first night Jayce took me, and the blue room.

I’m completely shocked when I realize we’re in a restaurant. I thought I had smelled food a couple of times before when I was behind the bar, but I always thought I imagined it because the smell was so faint. The idea that an entire kitchen and wait staff works here and I had no idea is more than a little surprising. Booths and tables are arranged much like they would be at a dinner show, except the show on the stage is seven bare-chested men and one completely naked woman.

I stop, looking toward the scene in a mixture of horror and fascination. She’s bound by ropes that suspend her from the ceiling and blindfolded. The skin of her breasts and ass is pink, and my guess it’s from the paddles some of the men are holding. “Jayce!” I whisper in alarm. “Is she okay?”

“I’m going to forgive the fact that you spoke out of turn, because your concern here is reasonable. But yes, she’s probably having the most sensually enlightening moment of her life right now. She volunteered for this, after all. In fact, the waitlist to be featured like this is so long she likely had to wait several weeks for her turn.”

“She wanted this?” I ask incredulously.

“This lifestyle has many, many things to offer for many different appetites, princess.”

“Does that kind of thing turn you on?” I ask, feeling a little nervous for the answer. I’m not about to judge him for his sexual fantasies, but at the same time, I’m desperately hoping he wouldn’t ever want me to do something like that, because I know I couldn’t. I wouldn’t want him to be okay with sharing me with that many men, either--or any men, for that matter.

“Personally? No,” he says. “I’ve never been particularly drawn to the extremes of BDSM. It has never been about extremes for me. Think of it like this: everyone has a line. For some, the line is drawn before their clothes even come off. For others, the line is sex with a stranger,, or with ten strangers. The most important thing is to find your line and bring yourself to the absolute edge of it. You’ll never feel greater pleasure than when you’re straddling the line between too much and not enough. Go over the line, and your discomfort will taint your pleasure. Stay too far away from it and you’re cheating the experience.”

“Where’s your line?” I ask.

“That’s the thing,” he says with a grin. “One of the reasons I know you’re meant to be my submissive is that I feel something I’ve never felt before when I’m with you. I feel like my line is irrelevant now. My line is wherever yours is. Your limit is my own, and nothing will bring me greater pleasure than to help you find that edge again and again, because it will continually move as we explore.I want to be there with you as it does so we can find it together.”

I laugh a little awkwardly, not quite knowing what to say. “I’ve only known you a few days,” I say. “You’re talking like we’re going to be together forever.”

Even as I say them, my words sound harsh and colder than I intended. I know it’s a defense mechanism--a wall I’m putting up because I’m still afraid he’s going to hurt me if I let him in too close. I hate myself for it. Jayce has been nothing but good to me, and he’s the first guy who is actually making an effort to get to know the real me, yet I can’t seem to stop subconsciously pushing him away.

Somehow, Jayce manages to take my words in stride. He doesn’t even seem annoyed when he answers. “What would be the point of dating you if I didn’t plan on forever?”

I open my mouth to respond, but close it again before I say something stupid.

He puts both hands to my cheeks, rubbing my lips with his thumb in a longing sort of way that makes me tingle all over. “I know you have been through a lot, and I won’t even try to pretend I can understand what it was like. But I can promise you this much. Let me, and I’ll take care of you. I’ll treat you the way you deserve to be treated. I’ll care about you more than you ever imagined someone could. I swear it.”

For some reason, tears well up in my eyes, but I manage to blink them away quickly, hopefully before he sees. There’s so much I want to say to him right now, but all I can manage is a quiet “thank you.”

He kisses my forehead. “Come on,” he says gently, but still manages to infuse the words with enough command that I might as well be pulled by a leash as he walks. “And no more free passes,” he says with a grin. “Break the rules again and you’ll pay.”

“Yes, sir.”

I expect him to take us to an empty booth, but instead, he has us sit with a couple who might be in their mid sixties near the back. I nearly give Jayce a confused look, but worry he might consider that questioning him--so I keep my eyes down as we sit. I can’t say why, but every time I have to force myself to obey his rules and conform to the image he expects for his submissive, I feel a rush of satisfaction. Just knowing I’m pleasing him and being what he wants makes me feel more desirable than I’ve ever felt in my life, and as sad as it is, I can’t seem to get enough of his small looks of approval when I follow his rules. I hardly want to think of my father at a time like this, but his way was to ask for perfection. When he got it, there wasn’t so much as a sniff of approval, and when we fell short of what he wanted, there was hell to pay.

So this world Jayce is letting me play a part in feels right. The rules are clear, the punishments are swift and so far, enticing in a dirty way. They stretch the limits of my comfort, but not so far as to make me fearful, especially when every time I do what I’m supposed to, I can tell it’s making Jayce happy.

“Mr. Carlyle,” the man says. I can tell he probably broke a lot of hearts when he was younger, and his companion is no different. I realize I was looking at his face and quickly avert my eyes to the woman at his side, hoping Jayce didn’t notice my slip of concentration. Her lips are curved in a catlike grin while she watches us, gorgeous blue eyes appraising and hard.

“I wanted to introduce you to my submissive,” Jayce says. “And I thought she might be interested to meet the club’s most experienced dominant and submissive.”

“You mean oldest?” asks the man with a grin. “I’m Dennis,” he says to me. “And this is Catrina.”

Jayce chuckles. “Old or experienced. Call it what you will, I was hoping you could explain the history of the club to her. I know you were around long before I ever purchased it and I think she could learn a great deal from you.”

Dennis makes a pleased sound that strikes a note of nervousness in me. If I know one thing about experienced men, it’s that history seems to be an inexhaustible point on which they can talk about for ages.

I’m thoroughly confused now, as I can’t see any reason Jayce would want me to have a history lesson on the club, but Dennis begins in earnest, starting with when the building was constructed and how he was actually there at the construction site.

It’s only a few seconds before Jayce’s hand slides across my thigh under the table. Between trying not to make eye contact with the man who is telling me a story and trying not to look suspicious as Jayce lifts my dress, I feel more than a little tense.

He starts to rub against my panties, sending chills through me and making my already wet pussy throb.

Dennis doesn’t seem to notice, though it’s hard to tell when all I can look at are his wildly gesturing hands. But when I sneak a glance up at Catrina, she’s watching with me a great deal of interest and an even wider grin than before, unless I’m imagining it.

Jayce’s hand slips inside my panties, sliding through my wet folds effortlessly.

I squirm, trying not to close my eyes or moan as he starts to alternate between circling my clit and plunging his fingers inside me. I lean my elbow on the table and put a hand to my mouth, trying to cover the sound of what are now little gasps that I can’t seem to control.

Somewhere through the haze of pleasure, I realize Jayce brought us to this particular table precisely so he could get Dennis rambling while he finger-fucked me just a few feet away from two strangers. Bastard. But as dirty as it is, being pleasured like this without either of them knowing is absolutely thrilling. I press my thighs together, trying to control the shaking that wants to rip through my body, but the pressure only buries Jayce’s fingers deeper inside me.

I sneak a look to the side, wondering how obvious what he’s doing is from the movement of his arm, but I’m impressed to see he’s somehow keeping it completely still. Only his wrist, hand, and fingers are moving, all of which are below the table.

“...And wouldn’t you believe it?” asks Dennis, who looks to Catrina as he pauses for dramatic effect. “They knew where the plans were the whole time!” he announces, banging his hand on the table as he breaks into a bout of laughter.

A moan slips out of my mouth, and I’m thankful for the timing, because I force it to turn into a series of gasping, very strange laughs. Catrina covers her mouth, eyes lit with amusement as she watches me. She knows what’s going on. I can feel it.

My cheeks burn so hot I think I might actually be giving off my own light source.

Jayce is relentless though, and he keeps working magic with his fingers, not caring how much more obvious it’s becoming by the second that something is going on.

I try to look anywhere but at the people who must surely be starting to suspect something, and make the mistake of looking toward the stage. The woman is riding one man while another crouches behind her to fuck her in the ass, and she has her mouth around a third man’s cock while she works two more still with her hands. It’s so perverted and completely wrong, but at this particular moment, I’m not exactly thinking with my conservative side, and it’s just enough to push me over the edge.

My hand comes down hard enough on the table to make Dennis and Catarina’s drink glasses rattle. I look up, even as the orgasm is spearing through me and making my eyes want to shut. “That was incredible,” I breathe with far too much enthusiasm than the boring story warranted. “I can’t believe…” I say, sucking in air. “This place has so much history.”

Dennis, who somehow appears completely oblivious, nods enthusiastically. “If more young folks like you showed an interest in the history around here, I think the world would be a much better place.”

“It’s true,” Catarina agrees with a knowing smile. “He says it all the time.”

Jayce slides his hand out of my panties and to my sheer disbelief, brings his fingers up to his mouth where he licks them clean. Oh my God. I watch him, biting my lip and completely oblivious to how Dennis and Catarina must be looking at us.

“Can I be excused for a moment? I need to use the ladies room,” I say. The real reason is I feel so flushed and strange being this wet in public, I want to make sure I’m not getting anything on my dress. That, and I need a mental breather from Jayce before he pulls any more crazy stunts.

Jayce narrows his eyes at me, clearly disappointed. “I have to pee,” I whisper, hoping that’s enough of an excuse for him not to use the vibrator on me again.

My panties buzz just for a split second, making me falter as I’m walking away from the table. I turn to look back at Jayce when the vibration stops almost immediately. He winks at me and then grins.

I give him a playful glare before heading toward a waiter and asking where the restrooms are. I walk into a small hall off to the side of the main room just as someone bumps into me, nearly knocking me back.

I start to apologize, my words fall short when I see who I knocked into. “Cade?” I ask. I take a step back, sucking in a breath to yell for Jayce, but Cade pulls me into a darkened corner of the hallway and pins me to the wall, pressing his hand to my mouth so I can’t scream.

“Scream and I’ll make you regret it,” he says, bulging his eyes at me until I nod my head.

He pulls his hand away and I suck in a breath to scream, but he slams his hand back against my mouth, bashing my head into the wall as he does. I wince as the impact gives me an immediate headache.

“God, it’s easy to forget what a fucking bitch you are,” he says. “But I’ll pretend none of this happened. All you have to do is come back to me, baby. You think he’s a dom? Fuck him. I can be the best dom you’ve ever had in your life.”

I try to pull his hands away and kick at him, but he uses his knees to pin my legs against the wall and slaps away my hands with his free hand effortlessly. “Go ahead and cry to your new boyfriend. Tell him I hurt you. That’s all you were ever good at. Fucking crying. And when he doesn’t do shit about it, you can come back to me when you realize you need a real man.”

He shoves me to the side, knocking me down to my knees, where I stay for a few seconds, gasping for breath and wiping the feel of his hand from my face. I want to scream, but all the conditioning from my past rises up in me. The same conditioning that made me weak and kept me from doing anything when guys would treat me like shit. That weakness kept me coming back like a silly, stupid little girl until it got so bad they practically broke me before it got through my blindness.

I shouldn’t be surprised that my instinct is to stay quiet and bottle it up, though. My dad started training me there was no use fighting back or telling anyone from a young age. I can still remember how I told a family friend about what my dad had been doing to us after one of his bad spells. Instead of telling the cops, they told my dad I had been telling stories, and I swear he nearly killed me that night.

I slowly get to my feet, just before a woman comes around the corner and gives me a concerned look, but doesn’t stop before entering the bathroom. I wait a few seconds for my head to stop spinning and step inside after her. I check the damage in the mirror, which isn’t as bad as I thought, and make my way back to Jayce, who is talking with Dennis about some kind of business deal they apparently were in on together a few years ago.

I give him a tight smile that I hope looks genuine as I sit, keeping my eyes down.

Jayce stops mid-sentence. “I’m sorry,” he says, holding a hand up to Dennis and Catarina. “Would you excuse us?”

“Of course,” says Dennis.

Jayce leads me away from the room with the stage into a quieter room, where slow jazz plays and men and women lounge on leather couches, some kissing or fondling, but most just cuddling. Purple light bathes everything, from the people to the glasses of wine and champagne set out for members on several tables throughout the room.

Jayce keeps walking me through the room without saying a word until he takes me to one of a dozen booths set into the wall. He pulls the curtain closed, which offers us complete privacy. For a moment, we’re in total darkness, until he lights a match and ignites the candle at the center of the table.

I want to ask what’s going on, but I know he’ll tell me when he’s ready, so I keep my mouth closed and wait.

“I need you to tell me what happened,” he says stonily.

I reel back, taken off guard. “What happened?” I ask stupidly.

He leans forward until his gorgeous face is lit in flickering orange light. “You left. You came back. Something happened in between.”

I open my mouth wordlessly, trying and failing to think of how I can explain why I didn’t say anything to him when I came back.

“I need to know,” he growls. “Something happened to my princess, and I want to fucking know what it was so I know whose ass to kick.”

I shake my head, letting out a frustrated sigh. “Maybe I didn’t tell you because I don’t just want somebody kicking anyone’s ass who treats me wrong.”

“So someone did something to you?” he asks, bull headedly ignoring the point I’m trying to make.

I clutch my temples, letting my head fall. “I don’t know what’s wrong with me, okay? I just don’t ever seem to do the right thing when guys are involved. I always let them hurt me and make me feel like shit. It’s only after it’s over that I realize what I should’ve done,” I say, blurting out more than I intended. “Maybe my instincts are just crap.”

Jayce is clearly trying to control his anger, so his words come out clipped and forced. “I can’t help if I don’t know what happened.”

“Cade was here,” I say, looking up. “Okay? He…” my lips curl with disgust when I think about how I let him do that to me and just walk away--how I wasn’t even going to say anything. “He was here,” is all I can manage.

Jayce’s nostrils flare and his hands clench into fists. “That shouldn’t be possible. I had all the security personally shown his picture and told not to let him in under any circumstances.”

“Apparently it was.”